Bound to the Stars
by JesterJosh
Summary: A Floran and an Apex escape prison and try to find their place in the universe. Will they make a home in the deepest reaches of space, or will they forever be bound to the stars? Rated M for blood, gore, some questionable scenes (no lemons), language, and awesomeness.
1. Chapter 1

Bound to the Stars

Here it is: A Starbound fan fiction. No one saw it coming... except 3 of my friends and my bro. For those of you who don't know what Starbound is... Starbound is a game much like Terraria (Bassically 2d minecraft with more fighting and fantasy based elements, all 3 are great games) It's a 2d game where you select one of 6 races, soon to be seven as far as I know, of aliens and travel to randomly generated planets in an infinite universe. You can find randomly generated monsters on each planet, each one unique to it's planet. You can also find randomly generated cities and dungeons. Every race is customizable and has selective gender. I also love the fact that each race is based off of a culture in history. You can build items to summon bosses and reach new sectors and types of planets. That's enough talk about the game itself. It's a beautifully made game. It's still in beta, but you can get early access on steam for $15. I urge all readers to check it out. Onto a summary of all races. These are the direct summaries from the wiki and, even the wiki page is pretty sweet. I don't own anything.

Human  
>Culture: Modern<br>Humanity was a flourishing species with a high evolution rate and extremely hardy in terms of healing, recovery and endurance. They were the first race to engage in space travel, both for science and entertainment, but their limitations restricted them to their own solar system. Eventually they began to war amongst themselves more frequently, and with Earth's resources depleting, returned to the space race as each of the world's superpowers attempted to claim and colonize new planets. While in the midst of a particularly lengthy struggle to claim Mars, the humans observed a Beast From Beyond The Stars crash land on Earth. World leaders were heard to exclaim 'it's like something out of a sci-fi movie' and 'we'd better run for it' and 'maybe it's friendly, let's not be hasty'. (This person was later fired.)

Avian  
>Culture: Ancient Mayan<br>Birdlike  
>Avian culture revolves around the worship of Kluex, the winged god of the Aether. Avians believe they were stripped of their wings as punishment for entering the mortal world and will only regain their wings in the afterlife should they achieve absolution through their history Avians have always been a primitive race, making little scientific progress. Avian numbers were beginning to dwindle when a superior race took pity and bestowed the gift of advanced technology upon them. This new found tech allowed the Avians to flourish and spread across the universe, building temples of worship as they go.<br>Avian soldiers are trained from birth to be fierce warriors and will protect their temples at any cost. Avian weaponry may look primitive at first glance, but the incorporation of advanced technology makes them particularly formidable. Avian generals forge wings for themselves that function much like jetpacks.  
>Though rare, Avians have been known to stray from their religious culture. Dubbed the Grounded, these Avians become outcasts and find solace amongst other races.<p>

Hylotl  
>Culture: Feudal Japan<br>Fishlike  
>The Hylotl, a proud amphibious species, were concerned with beauty. It's what drove them, the pursuit of perfection. Through years of living under the ocean, they developed empathy towards all other species, with a strong desire to reach out and save all living things. As such, they were pacifists and herbivores, content to simply live in peace until one day they were forced out of their homes, and off-world entirely, by the dreaded Floran menace.<p>

Apex  
>Culture: Ultramodern<br>Apelike  
>For millenia the Apex were close to human in appearance until breakthrough research into accelerated evolution lead to the creation of the "Vestigi-Evo Process". The VEP allowed the Apex to trade physical devolution for intellectual evolution.<br>The Apex operate under a collectivist regime controlled by the MiniKnog (The Ministry of Scientific Progression). Each Apex dedicates his life to the survival and progression of the Apex as a whole. The nature of this regime allowed the VEP to be administered species wide in less than 10 years.  
>The most honored members of Apex society are those chosen by the MiniKnog to donate their bodies to furthering the VEP. Those chosen for the experimentation process are rarely seen again, but their names are said to be inscribed on the wall of the chosen which sits deep within the Ministry.<br>For a time the MiniKnog received criticism from several prominent Apex for what appeared to be a bias towards selecting only the poorest in society to be members of the chosen. This criticism was silenced however when the critics themselves were selected.  
>There are whispers of a rebel group ready to denounce the MiniKnog and lead the Apex into revolution. But in Apex society discussion of dissension is punishable by death.<p>

Floran  
>Culture: Tribal<br>Plantlike  
>One would expect a race of sentient humanoid plants to be peaceful, nature-loving environmentalists – that presumption is what allows this hyper-aggressive tribal civilisation to thrive. Unwitting explorers are prey of choice to the carnivorous Florans, who frequently salvage or reverse engineer the technology they bring to enable their colonisation of the stars.<br>Introducing space travel to the primitive Florans had the undesired effect of Floran colonies spanning across star systems, each with their own customs and levels of aggression. Despite this, individual Florans have been known to split apart from their society to lead their own lives in isolation or in the solace of other races, at the cost of being cut off from the collective and considered enemies of all flora for good.  
>Though a unisex race, Floran culture values survival through reproduction and expansion over environmentalism or any perceived bond to Mother Nature. Cannibalism during funeral rituals and wars with rival factions are commonplace, though it remains unclear whether it's out of conservation or simple tradition.<br>Their aggressive nature appears to be borne from a lack of a concept of non-plant life as opposed to outright contempt. Owing to their relatively young age as a species, this tenet dominates their culture and justifies their treatment of visiting races, though there are signs of some beginning to question this, implying that Floran individuals might not be inherently "evil" as previously thought.

Glitch  
>Culture: Medieval<br>Robotlike  
>The Glitch were part of a program invented by an unknown race of enormous intelligence, they were built as a means of simulating the social and technological progress of a civilization.<br>These experiments took place in a vast number of regions across the Universe, despite changing a plethora of variables each civilization eventually destroyed itself when its technological progression began to overtake its social progression. All but the Glitch.  
>For reasons unknown a fault caused the Glitch to become stuck early in the simulation, where they now remain. The experiment long abandoned, the Glitch are unable to shake their Medieval values and beliefs. They're entirely unaware of their origin and are built to experience the feelings and desires of any other sentient organism.<br>The Glitch reproduce by finding a mate and physically building a new Glitch together. Occasional faults in this process has caused Glitch to be produced free from the limitations of their programming. Entirely self aware and full of advanced knowledge, these Glitch are generally thought to be insane and are hunted, imprisoned and executed.  
>Small numbers of faulty Glitch have managed to escape their homeworlds and set up villages amongst the Stars.<p>

Novakids  
>Culture: Wild West<br>Starlike  
>Forged aeons ago in the fusion furnaces of a now-dead star, the Novakids are a perfect example of nature's emergent beauty. These creatures, described by a human astronomer as "interstellar gas-bag people", have no known single origin point: that information is long lost, as the Novakids have little to no desire to record their history, or even pass it on to their offspring. Though they are (generally) more intelligent and intuitive than the "fleshy" races, their attention spans are lacking – this does not make them any less effective in combat, but has the effect of restricting their technology research (and any groundbreaking research is forgotten within a few generations).<br>The force that drives the Novakids is contained within the brand on their faces. Charged with huge amounts of energy, these pieces of metal generate the hard plasma "shells" which stop their constituent gases from leaking – if a Novakid is depleted of his or her vital gases, the energy contained within their brand is instantly vented into the very fabric of space-time, leaving only a twisted metal symbol and a nearly undetectable warping of light around the area of death.  
>Since the Novakids have a short memory (and attention span), diplomatic relations can be strained at times; because of their completely different composition to other lifeforms, Novakids are sometimes unable to grasp the nuances of interracial social interactions, and have thus attained a slightly dubious reputation amongst other races. In particular, an Avian diplomat reportedly described a Novakid he met as "dense", and elaborated upon his statement by mentioning that the Novakid in question had cheerily asked him if his god, Kluex, was real.<p>

Holy Crap! I could fill a chapter with that, but this is all official knowledge, so it's not fanfiction. Yeah, lets get to that part.

Chapter 1: Dreams of Stars

In the deepest reaches of space in the Alpha sector in the system of Alpha Thanatos 8413 II on a large forest planet deep under the earth there was a prison. A prison that was built by Florans to hold dangerous Florans, and other people too.

Two Florans escorted an Apex with rifles as he frowned through his brown fur. The short hair on his head was spiked back. He was largely built and had very broad shoulders. He looked pretty strong but that hadn't saved him and he looked like he was trying to think of a way out of his situation right now. People died in Floran prisons, usually very gruesome and painful deaths. The piles of bones were not for show. The meat was usually not found on them at first.

As they reached a cell at the bottom of the prison, they stopped. "You survive maybe," one of the guards told him as the hit him into the cell. As the Apex raised his head, he did not like what he saw. "Enjoy company." The Apex slammed against the bars.

"Let me out!" he yelled. The guards laughed and began to walk away. "No! He'll kill me!" The Apex turned to face the Floran who was his roommate. He knew he wouldn't survive the night sharing a room with a Floran. The Floran seemed to care nothing for him until the guards were gone. He then got up off the floor and turned to face him.

The Floran had the usual green skin and hair made of vines flowing off his shoulders. His 'hair' was medium length and fell just below his shoulders in a shaggy mess. The Apex noticed his lean muscles and the numerous scars that covered his body as he brushed the vines away from his face. His face had the usual smile which looked like a snarl, but right now it looked like a frown if that was possible. His eyes were a teal color, strange, but not unheard of. The thing that caught the Apex off guard the most was the sadness in those eyes. These were not the eyes of a Floran.

"H-hello?" the Apex asked uncertainly with his voice that was slightly deeper. He was unsure what was happening right now.

The Floran's face brightened. He was relieved apparently. "Hello there," the Floran said in a much deeper voice. The Apex was shocked to hear a whole sentence leave a Floran's mouth. "I'm sure your shocked by my intelligence and I'm sure you have questions. For now however." The Floran sat down and gestured for the Apex to follow suit. "Let's start with our names. People call me Rose Blood."

The Apex finally sat down and responded in still slight shock, "I am called Spiral Face. Peolple think I'm crazy." When Rose just kept looking at him, he continued. "I guess my first question is... How did you get this civilized?"

"Well," Rose began looking at the roof and sitting back, "that is a very long tale my companion." Spiral leaned forward.

"I'm not going anywhere," Spiral said with a sad chuckle. On that final note, Rose began his story...  
>-<p>

I was born many planets away. It was a forest planet, much like this one. I was trained from birth to hunt and showed skill the instant they gave me a knife. I killed my instructor the second he turned his back. Ha ha. From a young age, I showed a stranger skill that made me an even better hunter. What did he call it? Um... Imagination, that was it. My ability to think around situations made me the most dangerous Floran in my clan shortly.

One day though, as I was in a hunting group days from the village, we were attacked. No one reacted fast enough, except me, to save them. We were attacked by a group of Hylotl. They've always hated Florans. I saw everyone die instantly to their rifles and shotguns, as I later learned what they were. I dropped my sword after dodging death and they were still ready to kill me. Figures though. I was the only one still alive and trust me, they had shot at me. One Hylotl stopped them though. He said a Floran willing to do something peaceful for even a moment was something rare. They took me back to their ship, unconscious of course. It took him a few days, but I finally got fed up and asked, sorta, why they didn't just kill me.

He told me that he wanted me to see something. I followed as there were guns pointed at me in my cell. He showed me a animal being born. I didn't know what I felt at that moment. He showed me something else. It was video of a flower going through it's life and spreading it's seeds. This one made it clear to me, but I only knew what to call it later. I loved life. I loved seeing it begin and go through it's... cycle. I later loved it so much during my stay with that Hylotl that I began to hate death. I still appreciated honor and good combat skills though. He returned me to my cell after that. I don't know why, but I didn't want to kill them anymore. I just wanted to see more. I couldn't tell him that of course. Sooner or later though, I just yelled at him as he passed by to show me more. I got this out of my outburst.  
>-<p>

Rose turned over his arm to show a scar where a bullet had entered his body. "So he taught you after that?" Spiral suggested. Rose nodded. "How did you end up here then?" Rose held up his hand and continued...  
>-<p>

After that, he began to show me more life and eventually, I asked the question that began my teaching. Why does he do that? This was when he started teaching me about culture, which led to fixing me language problem. During my teaching, I learned how much I loved to learn about things. It was interesting. I felt like I liked this way of living better than my old way. It was... easier. I met his family one day and went into town with him. I was unsure what would happen. They all were afraid of me, but as time went on, they came to see me as a neighbor.

I remember the last thing he taught me. I stared up that night at the stars and said one of those is my home. He told me that all of them were home to someone or something. I couldn't believe it at first. There were just so many stars in the sky. He then told me that maybe I'd like to explore them some day and find new life and culture. I wanted to do that. There was no end to the stars, no end to the life I could find and see.

Then it happened. I don't who or what, but something attacked the town. He came to me and brought me to a ship. He lied to me and said we were going to fight. As he turned on the ship and jumped off of it, he locked the door. He told me goodbye and ran back to the burning city. I could only sit there and watch the city fade from view, and then, the planet itself. I never saw him again. I sat in the ship waiting to see where it would take me. In the next hour I realized it took me back home.

I tried to rejoin my clan, but they knew something was worst day was the day I refused to kill something. I just couldn't anymore. I was tired of the death. They accused me of being a fish lover and called me Rose Blood.  
>-<p>

"That was when you became Rose Blood?" Spiral asked with surprise. "What was your name before that?"

"It's not important," Rose said looking away and sighing. "I won't be using my other name again."

"Why not?" Spiral asked as if it didn't make sense.

"That is a reason for another time," Rose said. He continued to the end of his story...  
>-<p>

They wanted to execute me, but that wasn't enough to my clan. They stuck knives through my hands and used them to nail me to a tree where I was born with my arms above my head. I felt my blood run down through my hair and drip off my body. That's why my hair is such a dark green. The next thing they did broke me. They executed my entire family in front of my eyes.

I had a little brother, if you want to call it that. They say we came from the same mother. He was only a few weeks old. Didn't even have his first knife yet. He had the same intellect as me, I could tell. He may have grown up to be nicer than me and smarter. Next was anyone I'd ever called ally. I snapped after that.

As I tried to escape, they lit the tree on fire and the ground where I was born, believing it to be tainted. I ripped my hands completely through the knives and fell into the flames. I rushed the Florans instantly, so the burns didn't scar me. In my blood lust, I killed my entire clan. Everyone died by my hand that day. The other clans heard of what I'd done and instead of killing me like my clan tried, they're tradition sent me here.  
>-<p>

"Wow," Spiral said stretching. "That's the most incredible story I've ever heard."

"Now how did you end up here, my simian friend?" Rose asked leaning forward now. Before Spiral could begin though, the lights went out. "Well, it's lights out I guess. We can talk more tomorrow." Spiral heard Rose climbing into the top bed bolted to the wall. Spiral climbed into bed and thought for a long time about his new friend before asking something.

"Hey Rose?" Spiral said seeing if he was still awake. Rose mumbled in acknowledgment, showing he was still awake. "What makes you keep going? What allows you to want to live right now?"

Rose thought about this question for a long while. Just before Spiral thought he wouldn't answer, he heard a quiet response. "I dream," Rose almost whispered in the darkness. Before Spiral could ask his next question, Rose answered it for him. "I dream of leaving all of this behind. I dream of a home where I can live in peace and no one fears me... Mostly though, I dream of the stars.

Notes: That was awesome! I can't wait to continue this story. I encourage everyone to check out the game.

Next time... Chapter 2: Escape


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry this took so long, I had a lot of shit to do. Okay! Let's do this shit! Star bound... Awesome!

Chapter 2: Escape

Spiral awoke to a light shake on his shoulder. He flinched towards the wall when he saw that it was a Floran waking him up. After he hit the wall, it all came rushing back to him. He remembered Rose and how he had ended up in a Floran prison. As Spiral realized how tired he was, he yawned, "Why am I up so early?"

Rose spoke as he began to stretch, not showing that he was tired at all. "If the guards catch you asleep in the morning, they put a bullet in your shoulder to wake you." Spiral waited for Rose to say he was kidding, but he simply finished stretching and sat down. It looked like he was beginning to meditate. His breathing was deep and controlled.

"You're not serious!" Spiral yelled, earning many hisses and other sorts of threats from other cells. Rose continued to meditate and didn't seem to hear the scream. He simply continued to breath and focus. "Why would they do that?" Spiral asked much quieter.

Rose took another deep breath and responded with an answer that sounded like it was obvious. "They think it's fun." Spiral thought about this for a moment and thought it actually made sense. He just sat there as Rose meditated. The silence was broken by a few gun shots over the next hour. Rose finally spoke. "You probably want to know what will happen today. After we wait, they give us lunch. Then they kill off those that are problems to make room and we go to bed. This is where our plans differ."

"What do you mean?" Spiral asked as he stretched again. He was wondering what had been going through Rose's head as he sat there and why he picked now to talk.

"After that," Rose began, "we begin my plan to escape here." Spiral's face brightened. "If your wondering why now, it's because I need someone who can think and trust. For the next part, I'm gonna be some trouble and get taken to execution." Spiral's face fell as he had no idea where this was going. "The room is close to the control room. After I escape, I'll release all the prisoners. This is where you come in." Spiral adjusted himself as he waited to hear his part. "After I'm taken away, you have to steal a knife when I'm taken. The guards should be too happy or shocked to notice if your good enough. After that, start making a disturbance in the cell. When a patrol guard comes in, kill him and steal his keys."

Spiral looked unsure at killing the guard with a kitchen knife. "These are Florans were dealing with," Rose reasoned. "Don't forget that." Spiral nodded in understanding. "Now, this key will get you out of the cell and to sector B on the first floor while also giving you a head start. I'll be waiting there and the key will get us into the hanger. The chaos of the guards and prisoners fighting will allow you to slip away, but it will still be dangerous, for both of us." Spiral thought of something to say, but in the end just stared at the ground in disbelief of this insane plan. Escaping from a Floran prison was unheard of in all of the universe. Certain people had broken into them, but a prisoner had never broken out themselves. "I know this is a lot to take in at once, but I can't tell you later, so I thought I'd let you sort it out throughout the day. Can you do that?" Spiral pushed the idea from his mind long enough to nod and remained quiet.

"You've had a long time to plan this, haven't you?" Spiral asked. Rose nodded quietly. He'd been here for almost a year, with nothing to do but think.

After 5 minutes, the guards arrived at their cell. They were both angry that they didn't get to shoot them and were completely surprised to find Spiral still alive. The guards shoved them out and Spiral fell down only to be kicked in the stomach and hauled to his feet. Rose managed to keep his feet and the guards growled. Spiral could tell he had done this before and fallen. They hauled them down the halls and shackled them to other prisoners. As they trudged down the hall, Spiral looked into other cells and saw prisoners shackled to walls or just on the ground growling and groaning. Spiral saw a weird fountain like thing in one cell. "Hey?" Spiral whispered quietly.

Rose stopped him, knowing what he had seen. "It's a torture device," Rose whispered casually. "Don't ask how it works because trust me, you don't want to know." Spiral thought of as many ways it could and shuddered.

They were taken to a large room with a few tables. Not enough for all of them, but Spiral didn't think many Florans used tables. The room had a few scattered pools of lava and stacks of bones were everywhere. They un shackled them from each other and led them to a line where they were given some sort of meat. Spiral didn't trust it, but Rose nodded as Spiral sat down and just stared at his food. "I know it tastes horrid," Rose told him, "but you'll need the full stomach. Trust me." Spiral bit into it and discovered only one thing that was true that Rose said. It did taste terrible. As Spiral took forever to eat his food, Rose sat there and thought. Fights broke out and were stopped very frequently, but no one really tried to mess with Rose. Spiral still wasn't sure of his story, until a group of Florans came over.

Three Florans walked over to Rose as Spiral shuddered from another bite. The two on the side looked relatively similar, except for their skin color, which was red and blue. They had savage eyes and smiles, along with a purple mushroom on both of their heads. The leader had a black Mohawk of leaves and brown skin. He was huge and had a green loincloth. Rose took a glance at them before shutting his eyes again. "Florans want ape man," the leader said in his deep guttural speech. Rose stood up and they growled.

"Ape Floran's," Rose responded in the same speech. "Florans leave now." Spiral was amazed how when Rose spoke, it sounded so guttural, yet so smooth. The group walked up to Rose and growled. Rose sighed as if he didn't have time for this.

Spiral suddenly saw Rose's soft eyes turn savage. He grabbed the leader by the head and pulled it down. Rose used the momentum to swing over his head. As he rolled over the leader's back, Rose lashed out with a kick, catching a goon by the temple and sent him flying to the side. The other one managed to avoid both the goon and the kick. As Rose touched the ground, he grabbed the leader's head and smashed it into the table. As he crashed to the ground, Rose turned and hoisted the off balanced goon by the throat with one hand. No one really knew what had happened. Everyone froze because they had only heard tales about Rose Blood, the clan killer. The guards knew they couldn't lift their weapons fast enough. If Rose wanted this one dead, he was dead. Rose stood there for about 10 seconds as if he was thinking about killing him. Spiral was the only one who saw his other hand shaking. When it finally stopped shaking, he saw Rose smirk and drop the Floran. "Ape man belong to Floran." Spiral had just enough time to see Rose wink at him before guards rushed in and began to drag Rose away. No one knew what had just happened and Spiral was so shocked he almost forgot to take a knife. He slipped towards the guards slightly and when they knocked him to the ground, he wrapped his hand around the knife and slid it into his shirt. Rose went quietly, showing no emotion at all.

Everyone avoided Spiral for the rest of lunch because despite Rose being taken, they wouldn't move in until they were sure he was dead. Spiral had no choice but to finish his 'food' and head back to his cell. As he reached his cell, Spiral realized he didn't know how long to wait. He decided to wait until the same guard came around twice to show it was patrolling. He waited for hours and started to get worried about when the guard would come. He then saw a shadow come near the cage. Spiral started to bang and rattle the bars on his door as much as possible. The guard was less than pleased, to say the least. By that I mean, he was fucking pissed. He had really wanted to see the floran get executed, but here he was stuck on guard duty. Days like this made him really want to kill something, and this poor ape man was the unfortunate victim that set him off.

He burst into the room ready to shoot this prisoner with a full magazine of ammo. Luckily for Spiral, he was just as ready to get out. Spiral had slipped the knife out of his shirt and climbed onto Rose's bed when he heard the guard coming back. As soon as the door started to open, Spiral leaped and plunged the knife into the guard's neck. The guard began to flail about at his unexpected attacker. He shook off Spiral but dropped his gun as his hand instinctively went to his wounded thoat. As Spiral lept off the floor, he prepared for a fight. As he looked at the guard, he could tell he would get one. The guard pulled his hand away from his neck, light green with floran blood. The guard looked at the cell, noticing the ape man with the knife and his gun in a far off corner. The guard drew his own knife as he prepared to kill this annoying monkey.

Spiral's fear kept him on the defensive as the guard attacked. Spiral parried furiously with his knife, but it was only a kitchen knife. He had to dodge more than once and it nearly killed him. As a lightning fast thrust came at his face unexpectedly fast from the bleeding out Floran. Spiral ducked just in time to take an armored knee to the face. Spiral was lifted off his feet and flew backwards. Spiral could only roll with it and try to flip backwards onto his feet, but the Floran guard rushed in for the kill, so Spiral changed his plan. Being a monkey gave you some pretty good balance on your hands. Spiral landed on his hands and lashed out with a surprisingly hard kick to the Floran's head. He flew into the beds and hit his head on the bed. As the Guard sunk to the floor and Spiral flipped back onto his hands. His readied knife met no attack from the visious Floran though. As Spiral walked up to him carefully, he realized the guard was dead. Spiral couldn't possibly have forseen that the guard would snap his neck on the bed frame.

Spiral just sat there pondering how lucky he was until a alarm shocked him back to reality. Rose had started his escape and the cells shut down to maximum security. Spiral ripped the key card off the guard and slid it into the emergency overide. As the door slid open, Spiral went into an adreniline powered sprint.  
>-<p>

Rose thought about Spiral as he stood in a hallway with the other trouble makers, but cast away the thoughts as he remembered how much he would need to focus to live. He would just have to trust in his new friend. He had no other choice and besides, not just anyone survived a Floran raid.

Rose did what he did every day as he waited. He breathed in meditation. Rose could only guess at the amount of time that went by, but it all felt the same to him. Then the guards came and pointed at him. Apperently Rose was the star of today's show. They dragged him, quite roughly I might add, to the execution room. Most were either shot or stabbed or even decapitated if they didn't feel like wasting time, but there was one execution made for the worst prisoners. Very simply put, they chained you to a pole and lowered you into lava very slowly. They love to hear your screams as your skin, muscles, and then bones, peel and melt off underneath you. This was what Rose had expected, but he didn't leave much to chance, so this didn't effect his plan.

Just before he entered the room, Rose began to struggle and rammed the guards into the wall. They let go, and Rose fell to the ground hard. As he tried to run, the guards yanked him up by his chained hands and dragged him inside. They began to laugh at his foolish excuse for an escape. Rose just smirked as he hung his head in fake defeat.

They hung him by his hands and quickly left the room. The last guard barely made it out before the floor began to open to lava and the pillar Rose was tied to began to lower. Rose realized he wouldn't have much time. He propped up his feet against the pillar with expert precision and pushed off with force. The slick blood that ran down Rose's wrists from struggling took affect. The blood allowed his hands to slip through the bindings, only cutting his hands a little. He pulled his hands down and went into a back flip and barely managed to catch the retracting floor.

Rose pulled himself up just as the guards hit the alarm button and the exit door started to close. Rose rushed forward with oustanding speed and somehow got under the door before it closed. As the two guards were prepared to face him, Rose pulled one of the other prisoners in front of him as a spray of gun fire came down the hall way. Nearly every prisoner died except for Rose and a few others. As the bullet storm ended, Rose pulled the dead weight over his shoulder and lauched him at the guards with incredible speed.

One guard was hit by the Floran missile and went to the ground while the other turned to watch in disbelief at how far the Floran had been thrown. When he turned back, there was a Floran in front of him and a deadly foot coming at the side of his face. The guard had no no time to react as the foot knocked him unconsious and shattered his jaw. The other guard was to stunned to notice the blur of green come over him as Rose ripped his throat out with his hand.

Spiral ran through the halls, casting aside any fears he had before he had escaped the cell. That was until he turned a corner and three guards, fully armed and running at him saw him. They stared at each other for a second before raising their guns against him. Spiral thought he was dead until suddenly the doors to the cells opened.

The guards stood their awestruck as Spiral realized this was his chance. He ran at the guards and jumped off one's head. As he sprinted down the hall and the guards raised their weapons, the prisoners swarmed over the guards. Being less armed and armored, it was an even battle of chaos. 'This is what Rose predicted,' Spiral reminded himself.

Spiral sprinted on, dodging Floran prisoners that came at him because they enjoyed killing or had lost their grip on sanity. He jumped over another guard that was being swarmed by prisoners and torn apart. Spiral couldn't stop running. Spiral heard the sound of charged energy and instinctivly dropped to the ground as a wave of energy bullets swarmed over him, killing all in the corridor except him. Spiral had a nasty burn on his shoulder where a shot had hit him. He glanced back down the hall to see that the security squads had been realeased. They killed everything, but had much more skill. Spiral sprinted down the hall and turned a corner as a hole was blasted in the wall beside where he had been standing.

The watchers that ran the facility and watched the computers and cameras heard the sirens and were watching the cameras for a Floran that had killed everyone in the hallway. As they watched the screens, a Floran guard came into the room and asked, "What happening?" The watchers had no idea what was going on and wouldn't have had had the chance to answer even if they did. The guard lifted his plasma shotgun and shot two of them in the back. He threw the gun away and drew his pistol. Two more watchers laid dead by the time they they turned around. The remaining three watchers had drawn their guns but the guard ducked behind a terminal as they fired, also letting off a shot of his own that hit one of them in the shoulder.

The guard rushed out with blinding speed and shot a different guard in the eye before tossing the pistol at the only one he hadn't shot. The watcher dodged out of reflex giving the Guard the second he needed to punch him in the stomach before turning him at his companion who had pulled up his plasma rifle. The motion was done so fast the guard who had been shot in the shoulder didn't have enough time to stop himself from pulling the trigger. The guard had a hole go straight through him, but the guard wasn't there any more.

The guard had lept over the watcher, using the final one's shock at shooting his comrade to give him time. He landed while launching a fist at the watcher's wounded shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain. The guard ripped the rifle from his injured arm and bashed him in the face with it, causing the watcher to fall back as the guard spun the rifle over and placed it on his shoulder. The watcher died before he regain his balance, a hole through his forehead. The guard removed his helmet and allowing his vines to fall around his face. Rose shook his hair back to normal and walked over to a console. The watchers had only one failsafe button in their room. Luckily for Rose, it was the one he wanted.

As he pressed the button, sirens began to go off in the room and lights began to flash red throughout the compound. Rose knew how much time he had left and was out of the room a second after he pressed the button.

Spiral rounded a corner and ran into a lone guard. He launched a fist as he tried to run by. The guard ducked under the punch and stuck out a foot as he flipped the Ape over and onto the ground. "You got the key?" Rose said as he offered the Apex his hand.

"Rose!" Spiral said as he was hoisted to his feet. "Yeah, I got it." He handed the key to Rose who then walked slightly down the hall to a door. "Whoa! Is that really the door? It was that close?" Rose nodded and opened the door. Spiral was walking slowly towards him. When Rose heard a single foot step. It was just one, but Rose knew that that could mean danger. Rose grabbed the surprised Apex by his shirt and dragged him into the hanger as 5 Florans ran around the corner and fired at them. Rose saved their life in that instant.

Rose pushed Spiral towards his ship and yelled, "Go!" Spiral was smart enough to start sprinting. Spiral looked back though as Rose was forced into close combat. One good shot or sword slice would kill him. Spiral changed course and ran for a box. As he opened it, he found that it was full of junk except for one weapon.

"Rose!" Spiral yelled as he tossed the giant blade at Rose. Rose flipped over a guards sword and head, catching the sword in mid air. It was a rusted great sword. It wasn't in good condition, but great swords were Rose's specialty.

Rose spun when he landed, sweeping the feet of the guard that had swung at him and then swinging the sword over his head, smashing the guard into the ground. The sword was dull, so neither slice cut much, but that guard wasn't getting up for a while. Rose spun again, barely deflecting the sword coming at his exposed back with his own. His extended blade however, smacked the guard in the face and sent him flying to the ground. A lance came at him then, heading for his stomach. Rose side stepped the spear and brought his dull sword down on the shaft, destroying the spear. His sword went into the ground and Rose used this as a pivot as he lept to the side. Spinning around his blade and kicking the unarmed guard in the face.

As he landed however, Rose felt a searing pain in his shoulder as a plasma rifle shot grazed his left shoulder. Rose broke into a sprint for the ship and Spiral did likewise as he saw the Floran running away. Luckily they did as 20 more guards entered the door way.

Rose slammed the door to the ship shut and held it shut as Spiral ran to the pilot's seat. "Hurry before they hit something vital!" Rose yelled.

"What planet?" Spiral asked as he hit buttons.

"Any planet!" Rose yelled and Spiral hit a random planet button (yes, that is an actual button in the game) and hit the go button. Spiral strapped himself in as Rose pressed himself against the door.

The guards could only watch as the ship left the hanger and zoomed off out of the atmosphere. Spiral breathed easy as they left the planet. Rose wasn't convinced though and stayed against the door. Spiral was surprised as the ship continued course and hit lightspeed suddenly. Rose was smashed against the wall as Spiral almost had his head torn off. After enduring the force for 5 minutes, it stopped.

They both let out a heavy breath and looked at each other. After a few seconds, they both burst into laughter. They continued to laugh as they climbed to their feet. "You're insane," Spiral said as he looked out a window.

Rose walked over and stood beside him. "You're not that much better," Rose laughed. Rose looked out at the hundreds of dots of lights. They were beautiful to him and he smiled. "I never thought I would see those beautiful stars again." Spiral nodded and looked away from the window.

"Let's take inventory and check out where we are," Spiral said as he walked over to the pilot's console again. Rose looked down at the planet below them and nodded. The planet was green and blue, luckily. At least it wasn't cold or a desert. Rose looked at Spiral and back at the stars.

'I'm bound to the stars again,' Rose thought. 'Better than being bound to the ground at least.' Rose smirked at the thought of his old life and the new one before him. He wasn't sure whether he would live or what would happen, but as he looked out at the stars, Rose didn't care.

Author notes: I'm sorry it took so long, but maybe I'm back. Maybe... Let's see how it goes.


End file.
